Apparatus for producing power-gas.



PATENTED AUG. 28, 1906.

L. HERTZOG. V APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING POWER GAS.

APPLICATION FILED S A a m n 2 WWW? J. J y /////////////////////M A 7 W InvenZ'o-c luclw- 'g Hera/ Wvfi No. 829,919. PATENTED AUG. 28, 1906.

L. HBRTZOG.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING POWER GAs. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 10, 1904.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 2.

wiinesses lave-nib:-

UNITED s ra ns PATENT OFFICE.

FIRM- OF ADOLPH SAURER,

or ARBON, SWITZERLAND.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING POWER-GAS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed September 10 1904. Serial No, 224,044.

Patented Aug. 2a, 1906.

To all whom, it may oncerm: f

Be it known that I, LUDWIGHERTZOG, a citizen of the Confederacy of Switzerland, residing at Berlin-Siidende, Potsdamerstrasse 11, German Empire, have invented new and useful Improvements in and Connected with Apparatus for Producing Power Gas, of w oh the followin is a specification.

This invention regates to the roduction of power-gas and to a aratuses t ereto of that class provided a gas-generator and a steam-boiler combined therewith, a mixture of steam and hot air being conducted through the grate and the burning combustible in order to be decomposed and a power-gas generated composed mainly of carbonic oxid, hydrogen, and nitro en. The object of t e invention is to obtain a gas containing as much hydrogen as possible; To this end the heat of the gases coming from the generator, in addition to being used for the generation of steam, is used to heat the generator-(i. e., their superfluous heat is ound as much as possible in the generator itself before they leave the same and the radiation of heat through the walls of the enerator prevented as far as possible. Furt ermore, the heat of the said gases coming from the generator is received by the air for combustion introduced into the generator, and thus utilized for a preparatory heating of this air, and in this way the heat in question is constantly brought back and made use of again.

A further objectis to make the generators ofsuction-gas less unsafe or more exact in their functions than they are at present, so thata machine driven b such a generator-. gas will be nearly as reliafile in its working as a steamengine or a as-engine Working with illuminating-gas. T his was not possible hitherto, as the mixtures of gases lack that constant uniformity in their composition which is necessary for a perfectly regular driving of engines. The cause of this lies in the fact that it was hitherto not possible to precisely regulate the amount of hydrogen in the gaseous mixture and in the impossibility of keeping together or binding in a uniform manner the'heat required for and developed in the process of generating gas.

together as much as possible and using again the heat set free in the generator it is possible to drive a greater quantity of steam through the coals, the result of which is that the gas generated after this invention contains far more hydrogen then obtained by former processes. Through the exact regulation of larity in the generation of gas and in the working of the en "ines driven by-this gas is also obtained, so t at they will be able to compete with those engines on which the highest demands are made regarding exactness in their functions. With this invention the combustible is worked out or utilized in a hi her degree, whereby a greater efficiency 0 an apparatus of the same size. is attained, which is a further technical success. This'new mode of utilizing the heat can of course find its application also in the generation of pressuregas for cupola-furnaces or, in general, everywhere where gases are formed y the contact of atmospheric or saturated air or of pure oxygen with red-hot solid combustibles. The cross-section of the shaft holding the combustible may be of any sha e and the shaft itself be arranged horizontally or vertically.

These objects are accomplished in the manner and by the means hereinafter described and claimed, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which' Fig. 2, a ground plan, section A B; Fig. 3, a ground plan, section A B, of a modified form; Fig. 4, a section through the water-regulating device drawn on a larger'scale.

,The combustible to'be gasified is received b the shaft a, lined with a fireproof material vaporizing-chamber r, with a supply-funnel i built into it. Around the jacket n, i'nclosing the fireproof material 1), are arranged two hollow cylinders 'm and Z, with spaces 1 and 2 between them. A cover-plate (1, provided with a feeding-funnel 7 having a double closure, serves to shut off the shaft a and the two spaces 1 and 2 on top from each otherv and against the outer air, so that the space 1 stands in no communication with space 2 nor with the shaft 0 and that shaft (1, and space 2, though closed'against the outer air,

In consequence of keeping I stand in communication with each other the water-supply a greater safety and .regu- On top of this shaft is arranged a tubular Figural 1s a vertical longitudinal section;

\ ed upon the grate e, whereupon 4o and the supply-funnel t.

through the heatin -tubes 8 and the spaces 3 left free. between t e upper Wall of the vaporizing-chamber and the cover (1.

The interior of the vaporizin -chamber 1' stands in communication on t e one side through the channel 5 with the space 1, into which the air enters through holes 0, distributed over the surface of the cylinder or mantle Z, and on the other side throughchannel t With's ace 6 under the grate e. From space 2 a c annel 7 leads to the two-way valve 2, from which branch off two conduits, of which the first, 8, leads into the 0 en air and the second, 9, to the purifiersan t0 the places of consumption. Into one of the tubes 8 of the vaporizing-chamber 1 is placed a reservoir g, preferably filled with air and in its enlarged part g closed by a membrane y; it is the "tube for injecting thewater, i the self-regulatin water-cock, and k. a tap or cook adjustec l by hand for regulating the su ply of water. (Compare also Fig. 4.)

plpo'site the openin at the lower end of the c annel 4., rovide with a valve-seat, is arranged a soc et :10, provided with a doubleseat valve to over an opening in the wall of the foot of the generator to carry' a fan 1). Through the valve 20, which is subjected to the action of a spring and controlling two olpenings, the way is temporarily cut off to t e mixture of steam and air under the grate, and when the fan does not work the channel 00 leadin thereto is closed as a rule, so that if thewho e apparatus is working normally no air can enter the same from. the fan.

' Mode of acting: To start the apparatus, a fire of quickly-burning materials (woodshavings, paper, wood, or charcoal) is lightgradually the combustible material (anthracite, coke, brown coal, tar, even'watery coal) to be gasified is fed to it through the feeding-fu11nel By blowing Wit the. fan 0) the apparatus can be started more rapidly. Hereby the double-seat valve to is so fixed that it closes the opening in the lower end of the channel 4, so that no part of the wind generated can enter through channel 4 into the vaporizing-chamber r, &c.; but all the air moved by the fanmust pass through the grate e and the combustiblein the shaft a. During this time the two-way valve z is in such a position that it closes the conduit 9,

so that all the smoke is compelled to escape f into the open air through the chimney 8. Also the cock 7c in the water-conduit is closed. The ascending hot gases give off during this start a great part of their heat to the vaporizing-chamber 1 and to the two cylinders m and n. the air in the reservoir 9 of the' apparatus for regulating the water-supply is heated at the same time, in consequence of which it expands and acts on the membrane y, whose motion is thereupon transmitted by Through vthe heat of these gases a lever. upon the cock 'i, so that the latter opens more or less, according to the eXpansion of the air in the reservoir gthat is to say, according to the heat in the generator and the gases drawing oiiin consequence of which more or less water of a constant pressure can enter the vaporizing-chamber r throu h the tube h. As soon as the formaouter air, and that, further, the chimney-flue is closed oif and the space 2 in communication with the conduit9. At the same time the water-cock Jcis' also opened. The ap'paratus is now ready forthe regular working.

If the generatoris to supply the gas for driving a motor,- the latter can now be started. Through the suction caused by the motor the air necessary for the generation of gas in this case is sucked up into the vaporizing-chamber through the openings 0, space 1, and channel 5. The air receives hereby va preparatory; heating on the hot wall of the cylinder 'm. In the vaporizing-chamber r the water regulated by the cock iis dropping through the tube h. -It evaporates at once, and at each stroke of the piston it is mixed with the hot air andsuperheated.

The mixture is now conducted through the channel 4 into the ash-room and from there through the grate e and the red-hot mass of loo carbonic oxid, (C0,)hydrogen, .(H,) and nitrogen, (N.) The gas now passes throu h the heating-tubes s, the spaces 3 and 2, t e

channel 7, and through the conduit 9 to the purifiers and from there to the place of consumption. On their way through 8, 3, and 2 the gases give oii a great part of their heat to the vaporizing-chamber 1' and the Walls of the cylinders 12, and m. v That part of the heat of the gases which is not absorbed by the vaporizing-chamber 1' and the mantle mthat is to say, thepart still left in the gases after the generation of steam, preparatory heating of the air, and overeating of the mixture of steam and airis used to heat the generator by insulating and giving off the heat to the same. It is in consequence of this possible to send a much greater uantity of steam through the red-hot mass 0 coal without cooling the lat ter, as the heat restored to' the generator and the mass of coals is able to decompose. The temperature in the generator, and, as a conair in the reservoir 97 varies already at the slightest change of temperature, so that proportionately more or less water is conveyed to the vaporizing-chamber r.

In order to obtain a larger heating-surface,

so as to better absorb and give offthe heat, the two cylinders m and n, as well as the vaporizing-chamber 1* and the heating-tubes 8, if required, may have ribbed or corrugated surfaces. If the channel 4 is arranged as shown in Fig. 2, the mixture of steam and air is conveyed in equal halves right and left around the-supply-funnel t and collects a ain shortly before leaving through channe 4.

Instead of this arrangement the construction may, according to requirements and circumstances, be as shown in Fig. 3. By this arrangement of channel t in connection with a rib 0 the whole mixture is forced before entering the channel 4 to pass along all theheating-tubes s.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a shaft receiving the combustible material, of an evaporator arranged on top of said shaft of the generator having tubes'and a fuel-suppl funnel built into it, of a water-tube of sai evaporator provided with a self-regulating cock, of two hollow cylinders with spaces between them, surrounding the evaporator and shaft, of channel connecting the evaporator and the space under the grate and means to make heated air enter the evaporator, substantially as'described.

, 2. In an apparatus for producing powergas, comprising a shaft constructed to receive the combustible material, an evaporator arranged on top of said shaft, the combination of two hollow cylinders with spaces between them, surroundin the evaporator and shaft, the inner space aving an outlet and being connected with the space above the upper wall of the evaporator and its tubes, to'form apassage for the generated hot gases to said outlet and the outer space communicating by a channel with the evaporator to form a passage for the heatedv air to enter the evaporator, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an apparatus for producing powergas comprisin an evaporator arranged on top of the sha t of a generator, the tubes of said eva orator communicating with the space un er the grate a fan, a passage therefrom to the spaceunder the grate the combination of a double-seat valve controlling the channel conducting the mixture of steam and air from the evaporator under the grate and the said fan-passage, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two Witnesses.

LUDWIG HERTZOG.

Witnesses:

MARY FALGONER, CARL KAUFMANN. 

